Brand advice for suspension, tie rods, ball joints, etc.

SirDoopYJ

YJ Enthusiast
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Oct 2, 2020
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755
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Stick Red, Louisiana
Every boot on my tie rods and ball joints are ripped and don't hold any grease, what are some recommendations for replacing?

I also have a JKU quick disconnect on my driver side and a welded sway bar on the passenger side. Not sure why this was done from previous owner. I will need to replace these too. I figured I should stick with the quick disconnects?

How do you know if you have to replace leaf springs? I will post some pictures of them, I have one or two where the leaves aren't straight and flush with one another.

Anything else I should look into while having everything off on the front end? I am going to be double checking brakes and discs, previous said he replaced these and I have had no issue braking. Other than that, I will be sanding off surface rust and spray painting parts to make them look newer.
 
I believe the premium line at NAPA is made by Spicer, so those are what I'm planning for steering. For ball joints, Spicer 706944X from Amazon for sure. You need two kits.

Sticking with quick disconnects is the best bet. I wouldn't ditch the sway bar and I definitely wouldn't go back to fixed links.

If they're sagging, or if you don't like the way they ride. Pics will help to determine that. They may not be straight simply because the PO might have taken the pack apart and not put it back together perfectly straight.

There isn't much else besides those components on the front end. May be good to refresh the steering damper. A cheap Monroe from Amazon works fine.
 
For the NAPA tie rods, there is NAPA Proformer Chassis and there is NAPA Chassis Parts. I am going to go with the NAPA Chassis, my Uncle works there and he said there is a lifetime warranty with those and a way better product than the Proformer. I am assuming the NAPA Chassis is the Spicer brand. It is going to be $355 big ones.



I meant to say sway bar link, I think it broke from PO and it was welded together on the passenger side and quick disconnect on driver, I meant to say JKS brand for that. I guess I will order a new set of JKS. They are about $125. I just need to make sure if I have a 2'' lift or a 2.5'' lift. There is a set for 0" to 2" and then a set for 2.5" to 4". By keeping the sway bar you mean the long bar that connects the two sway bar links?

I can't tell about the ride for Leaf springs, I never drove a full leaf spring vehicle before. I mean you can feel the bumps, but I believe that to be the characteristic of the leaf spring no matter what you do. My Jeep used to feel like it would pull a little hard right or it almost felt like I would lose control hitting a bump unless I left off the gas before hitting it. However, this was corrected after changing the lower steering shaft.

I will have to double check the Damper and shocks. I can't really tell, I don't believe for them to be newish, but there are definitely clean looking.
 
For the NAPA tie rods, there is NAPA Proformer Chassis and there is NAPA Chassis Parts. I am going to go with the NAPA Chassis, my Uncle works there and he said there is a lifetime warranty with those and a way better product than the Proformer. I am assuming the NAPA Chassis is the Spicer brand. It is going to be $355 big ones.



I meant to say sway bar link, I think it broke from PO and it was welded together on the passenger side and quick disconnect on driver, I meant to say JKS brand for that. I guess I will order a new set of JKS. They are about $125. I just need to make sure if I have a 2'' lift or a 2.5'' lift. There is a set for 0" to 2" and then a set for 2.5" to 4". By keeping the sway bar you mean the long bar that connects the two sway bar links?

I can't tell about the ride for Leaf springs, I never drove a full leaf spring vehicle before. I mean you can feel the bumps, but I believe that to be the characteristic of the leaf spring no matter what you do. My Jeep used to feel like it would pull a little hard right or it almost felt like I would lose control hitting a bump unless I left off the gas before hitting it. However, this was corrected after changing the lower steering shaft.

I will have to double check the Damper and shocks. I can't really tell, I don't believe for them to be newish, but there are definitely clean looking.
Yep, Napa chassis is what I was referring to. I’d go with those, and yes they are definitely expensive.

Sway bar link length isn’t really that critical. I’d try and see if the leaf springs have part numbers on them. Your profile pic looks like you have lift shackles so that needs to be added into the equation of sway bar links. And yes, the sway bar is the curved bar that connects the links. Some people choose to remove it fully rather than install new links. I’d suggest installing links.

The ride quality is probably fine. Wouldn’t give it too much thought.

If the parts are clean looking, I’d probably leave them alone.
 
Awwww yea! Project for this weekend!

For the Spicer ball joints, how do you know which is bottom/top. There is also no grease fitting on one of them

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20210114_183219.jpg
 
Awwww yea! Project for this weekend!

For the Spicer ball joints, how do you know which is bottom/top. There is also no grease fitting on one of them

View attachment 116854

View attachment 116855
The one with the grease fitting goes on top. The factory didn’t have a fitting on the lower one just like those don’t. It’s packed with a precise amount of grease internally and doesn’t ever need to be messed with.
 
Have fun. I think mine were original and a pain to get off. It all started when I tried to align the front end. I had to remove the drag link and put it in a vice to remove the tie rod.
 
Trying to get to ball joints first.

I am having trouble removing the hub and inner axle shaft. It seems to be sealed with rust. Where is it safe to bang to get it loose.I have the 3 bolts out no problem and have the tie rod end off.
 
Trying to get to ball joints first.

I am having trouble removing the hub and inner axle shaft. It seems to be sealed with rust. Where is it safe to bang to get it loose.I have the 3 bolts out no problem and have the tie rod end off.
Put a bolt like this and turn the steering. It always works, the leverage is too high against the unit bearing for it to not work.

56FEAF18-E8F1-40F2-946A-945724522AD0.jpeg
 
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100% normal. That's built in to allow slight differences in knuckle tolerances to allow any knuckle to mate to any ball joint.
 
Basically I am having trouble getting the hub flush flat with the knuckle or getting it in the hole, but now that I am tightening the bolts it seems to be going in now